‘A Gentleman’s Guide to Graceful Living’ Wins Hemingway Prize

Literary-prize judges too often snub quiet but worthy books. So I’m delighted to report that one of my favorite 2008 novels, Michael Dahlie’s A Gentleman’s Guide to Graceful Living, which I reviewed in January, has won the Hemingway/PEN Award for “a distinguished first book of fiction.” This witty and intelligent comedy of manners about fathers and sons was well-received by critics, but by today’s overheated standards, probably received less attention than it deserved.